Fires peak in early austral dry season across all 4 countries.
Tanzania miombo woodlands peak in July; Zambia savanna peaks Aug–Sep.
[NASA Earth Observatory; Carbon Balance & Mgmt, 2015]
✓ Zambia & Mozambique: global fire hotspots
Zambia ranked 3rd globally — 86.6% of national area burned (2001–2020).
Mozambique ranked 4th (73.5%). Combined 10-yr burned area >1.2M km².
[PLoS ONE, 2025]
✓ Savanna & miombo drive recurrence
Up to 50.6% of Tanzania miombo burns annually. Woody savanna shows
highest fire recurrence across all 4 countries.
[Carbon Balance & Mgmt, 2015]
✓ Anthropogenic fire management
~70% of Kafue NP burns annually via early dry-season management burns.
Cropland mosaics in Malawi & Mozambique show elevated recurrence.
[NASA MODIS Gallery, 2023]
✓ Declining long-term trend
Sub-Saharan Africa: ~36,000 km²/yr decline (2001–2020),
driven by agricultural expansion replacing traditional burning.
[PLoS ONE, 2025]
Prepared by: Ujjwal Kumar Swain
•
ujjwalks.iirs@gmail.com
•
+91 7978641480
•
NASA MODIS + Copernicus S5P + Hansen GFC via GEE